Dantherm Group's Karl Lowe.
Having started his career with a three-year refrigeration engineering apprenticeship before undertaking a degree in facilities management, Mr Lowe brings with him 22 years of experience and knowledge of the HVAC service industry. In his most recent roles, he was UK service manager at Fläkt Woods, before serving as UK and Ireland service manager and then European service manager at Munters for the past four years.
Now holding full responsibility for Dantherm’s service and spare parts, Mr Lowe’s goal for his first year at the company will be to develop a winning structure and strategy for the Group’s service business, and create a sustainable blueprint to enable double-digit growth in the years ahead.
Here, we discuss his plans for the coming year and his long-term plans for the business.
What do you hope to achieve in your new position?
I want to train our people and help them become a world leading service team, raise the profile of service within Dantherm Group, and ensure that it achieves its true potential. My aim is to create a service organisation that has a culture of trust, empowerment and drive to be better.
What goals have you set for 2019?
2019 is going to be a challenging and exciting year for myself and my team and I am excited about meeting all staff in our international offices to discuss, develop and implement the new service strategy.
Training the service management teams is key to implementing the global objectives I have set. This year we will be creating a training academy at our headquarters in Skive, which I will take full advantage of to develop each member’s skill set to deliver the first-rate service organisation I want the Group to become.
What is your vision for Dantherm Group Service?
To become a world-class service organisation, generating high growth and becoming a partner of choice for our customers.
What does service mean to you?
Trust, innovation and out-of-the-box thinking. Service is at the forefront of any HVAC business; we are the first to react when our clients need help in the field, so it’s vital that we lead by example create strong partnerships with our clients. No two years in service are the same and to continue to grow and develop we must innovate and think outside of the box. What worked last year may not work this year; we must continue to learn and grow by taking ourselves out of our comfort zone.
I see service very much as a partnership between product and service. Good products need good service. If service is weak then the product suffers, and our clients take their business elsewhere. Strong service benefits all.
Where do you see Dantherm Group service in five years’ time?
An outstanding service organisation with double-digit growth of circa 15 per cent year-on-year, with a fully operational Service Training Academy and a Spares Centre up and running. I want to increase the number of service employees, with our clients repeatedly scoring our Service organisation as exceptional in client feedback surveys.
My ambition is that within five years Dantherm Group Service will be a viable and sustainable business generating growth for the wider business.
With a challenging year ahead, what are your interests outside work?
I love training at the gym, keeping active and spending time with my wife and two daughters.